Kingdom Hearts III: Out of the Ashes Rise the Rest
by FangedWriter
Summary: Chapter Four, When Earth Meets Sky. Terra and Skye spend some more time together, and learn a bit more about each other. R
1. Prologue: Eyes in it All

**Kingdom Hearts III: Out of the Ashes Rise the Rest**

**by FangedWriter**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Kingdom Hearts, unless you count the first game, CoM, and the second one, plus a player's guide. The characters, locations, ideas and concepts of Kingdom Hearts do not belong to me. **

**Hi everyone! New fic! Okay, this one is set as a KHIII. It's about everyone's descendants. Won't say much up here though. Hope you enjoy! (By the way, if anyone gets an alert now, and you've read this before, all I'm doing is fixing a dang typo. From what I hear, that comes out as an alert?)**

The city lies in an early night setting. In truth, no one here could remember it ever being day. The sky simply varied whether or not it had stars.

Skilled orange eyes studied the streets.

Finally, the owner of those eyes leaned back against the higher part of the roof and sighed. A hand, wearing a glove that stopped at the knuckles, reached upward and pulled silver hair back away from those eyes.

The person startled at the sound of a phone, instantly hating the reaction to it. The same hand reached down for the phone and held it up to the person's ear.

"What?" The person asked.

"Any luck?"

"No, not yet. Told you it was too soon, but you sent me out anyway."

"You claim your plan's so special, so why hasn't it worked yet?"

"Was Hollow Bastion built in a day? No. Same goes for the plan. It needs time. Another day or two,'' the person told the voice on the phone. "Don't get impatient."

"Are you ordering me? I've got news for you, Nitya; you are simply a hired worker. Nothing else. You can be fired."

She laughed.

"Yes, I may be, but so are you. You are a hired worker to our boss too, and you can be fired just the same. Besides, if I'm fired, all deals are off, right? I can still shut down the plan simple enough."

There was silence on the other end.

"You are so lucky it's me in charge of you. Manton would have you killed. He's got enough problems with Erebus without you adding your attitude to it."

Nitya smirked.

"Who's this Erebus?"

"You're not to tell Manton I told you, you hear?" The voice demanded.

"Yes, I get it. Won't tell. Sheesh."

Nitya grinned, imagining the glare she was getting from the speaker.

"Erebus is some guy e-mailing Manton lately, offering the perfect deal if they pair up and do the Keybearer in together."

Listening, she frowned.

"Know if Manton plans to take it?"

"He thinks about it, but he won't tell me either way."

"Pity. Now, Pete, would you like to let me go? You've got your report and I've got things to tend to."

"Fine, but I'm telling you now that Manton will not be happy to hear that he's gotta wait."

"Well, that's how it works,'' Nitya said simply, shrugging out of habit.

She hung up. The light from the cell phone screen lit up her face, playing across her tan skin. She changed the settings so the phone would vibrate instead of ring.

There were things to do now of much more importance than sitting on a rooftop, and an unexpected call could bring it down around her.

First things first, she had to get out of this portion of town, back to her own base.

Orange eyes carefully checking the streets again, she jumped from the roof, landing easily.

Instantly she lapsed into thought as she walked the familiar paths.

Either Manton was stupid and really believed that there had only ever been one Keyblade, or he was smart and did not tell his workers about the others. She hoped it was the latter. She didn't want to have to teach the boy everything.

She was disappointed to an extent that Manton believed Erebus to be a male. Sure, typically a male name, but it was a female behind it now.

Lastly, Nitya found herself thinking of what Pete had said about Manton killing her. _Indeed, witch's son you may be, but you can't kill what_ _really doesn't exist, can you?_ She thought, a smile tugging at her lips._ And what a surprise you'd get, boy._

Nitya exited the peaceful first district of Traverse Town and entered the unruly second district. Here, Heartless still roamed in packs out of Manton's control. he was still perfecting his powers yet as it was and they were simply beyond him. For now, the second district was supposedly off limits to all of his people, but she came anyway. As far as she concerned herself though, she wasn't one of his people. She wasn't even like any of them.

This was base.

She sat down on the fountain's edge for a moment, gathering thoughts. Everything was at a delicate stage now and she had to be careful. One slip up anywhere could mean her certain doom. Manton may not be able to kill her as far as she knew, but she knew he would be able to do damage of some kind.

She stood up, unwilling to allow herself to sit too long. There was work to do yet, work that really mattered.

There was the matter of a certain hotel she had to visit.

Nitya picked her way around the second district, with the same ease as the first. She encountered Heartless only twice, and she sent both packs scurrying quite easily.

She carefully opened the door to the hotel. The desk attendant was asleep and did not as much stir when she closed the door behind her. Silently she made her way next to the man. The list of guests sat beside his arm, as it always was.

She scanned the small guest list. She fought a grin on her face.

They were here. Good. Just like their parents when the time came.

Nitya made for the rooms they were in, having memorized their names already, intending to sneak a peek at them.

Suddenly, halfway down the hallway, she sensed something wrong. She stood still for a moment, listening intensely. There was no sound behind her at all, but she knew enough tricks of the trade to know that it didn't matter.

She turned slowly, hands by her weapons. She froze.

She studied the man standing there, and he simply let her. He wasn't human, that much she knew by how sudden she had felt his presence. No, he had actually appeared somehow.

For once Nitya didn't know if she trusted her eyes.

Could he really be like her?

**Never really tried suspense before, I hope I didn't do too bad. Let me know what you think! I'm guessing some of you will be able to tell who Manton is exactly and Nitya, judging my description and such. The first chapter will be less dark and include the children of some favorite characters! I might be taking a break from here to do one more chapter of **_Life at Kingdom High_**, that is, unless I get a lot of reviews here! Then I'll do the next chapter right away. Please review! It helps me when you do!**


	2. Chapter One: Dream?

**Hi everyone! This chapter is finally done! Yay! Gad, this thing tried to kill me XD Anyway, thanks goes to everyone that has reviewed for me and put me on their lists. Thanks! You make me feel special!**

**Okay, here we go. Chapter One for this story, the previous was the prologue. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts anything, okay? I wouldn't be here writing this. It'd be in the game or something. (that and half the characters would be gay:) )**

A door slammed somewhere in the front of the house, and Bridget jumped despite how many times she heard it slam in her life. Sighing, she set the pan back down on the counter and made her way out of the kitchen. Someone was home from school.

Bridget had lived in the same household as Sunny and Sky all her life to guess who was home. On any normal day she would have bet anything on Sunny. Sunny was a bundle of energy, and had always been. After sitting still in a chair all day in school, the effect was that she literally bounced off walls once home.

Lately however, Skye was doing more of the door slamming. So now Bridget had no idea who to expect in the house. It could be Skye home exactly on time or Sunny home early.

If it was Skye, Bridget promised herself that she'd pull her aside and talk to her. Not that she really, really wanted to, mind you, but she knew that she ought to. Skye wasn't herself lately at all. Normal happy go lucky care free Skye was now quiet touchy as a viper Skye. Something was wrong and Bridget knew it. The only thing she could hope for was that Skye would tell her. Normally Bridget and Skye were very close, but Skye had been distant with everybody during the last week.

Bridget came into the front room and found Skye hanging her coat up, her back to her. Bridget swallowed, trying to get rid of nerves.

"Skye, we need to talk."

Skye gave a visible jump. She turned, her chest heaving a little.

"You scared the crud out of me!" Skye exclaimed.

"Sorry. We need to talk though."

"Okay. What about?"

"Well,'' Bridget began, unsure how to continue. "Come on. Let's go in the kitchen first. I've got to get dinner in the oven before Sunny gets home."

"Yeah,'' Skye said, laughing. "Sunny'll tear the fridge apart if you don't."

Bridget felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Whatever had been bugging Skye lately was done now, she guessed. Skye hadn't laughed fora while, and that was odd of her. It felt wonderful to hear that laugh.

Once in the kitchen, Bridget cut the pizza out of the plastic wrap and put it on the pan. Skye sat on the counter watching her. Skye waited until the pan was in the oven before she broke the silence.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, it might seem kind of useless now," Bridget admitted. "I was just going to ask you what's been wrong lately, but you're doing better now."

"Yeah, the last week's been kinda rough,'' Skye agreed.

"But what happened? You didn't tell me and you tell me everything."

Skye shrugged.

"If I knew, I would have told you. I don't know what it was, but it just made me feel restless. Like I shouldn't be here, like I should have been off doing something. Like somebody needed me somewhere."

Bridget took this all in quietly. She listened with patience, something she had always been able to do.

"Well, Skye, what's so different today? That would help us."

Skye was silent for a minute as she thought, her hands fiddling with one of her zippers, her baby blue eyes distant.

"Don't know,'' she answered honestly. "Today's just sorta different."

"If you figure out what it is, tell me, okay?"

"Yeah. Of course."

There was a minute or two of comfortable silence. Bridget bustled about the kitchen during that time and Skye was thinking about the past week.

Skye had absolutely no idea why today was so different. It just felt different. She didn't feel restless at all. She felt relaxed. She felt like herself.

"Any homework?" Bridget asked, breaking Skye's train of thought.

"Yeah,'' Skye sighed.

"Get to it."

"Yes, Ma."

And with that Skye leaped from the counter top and left the kitchen.

Bridget smiled. Ma. It felt like an eternity since Skye called her that. The last time had been a week ago when Skye had blew another hole in her wall from the chemical set and needed Bridget to patch it, again, and Bridget still smiled at that. Yeah, Bridget wasn't Skye's Ma, any more than she was Sunny's, but it was just something they did. Bridget had always been around, always been the Ma. First she had watched after Skye, going clear back before the girl's brown hair was spiky and a safety hazard. Then she had taken care of Sunny too, before that girl had learned about the magic of sugar.

It had always been Bridget, Skye, and Sunny. They didn't know who their mothers really were or where they really should be, but sometimes things like that didn't matter.

Bridget was still grinning to herself at this when the door slammed shut for the second time that afternoon, announcing the arrival of very hyper Sunny.

After a long evening of homework that had been put off, getting dragged to the local park by Sunny, and then shopping by Bridget, Skye was more than happy for bed. The Disney inspired bed set had never looked so beautiful.

Skye fell asleep quickly.

_She opened her eyes slowly, her head titling back as she did so. Dark blues greeted her eyes. She didn't know where she was, but she felt calm there. She felt safe._

_**I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like, is this where I belong, or not?**_

_Skye realized she was fabling. But it was funny because she didn't feel like she was falling at all. All she had to go by was the deepening shades of blue that suggested darker depths._

_She felt the change occur. The change of colors were no longer slow. It was quickening and she was no longer looking at it levelly. She had begun to spiral down head first. She figured it ought to scare her on some level, but it didn't. Everything felt calm._

_All at once the scenery around her changed. Everything changed._

_Skye found herself standing upright on a beach. _Funny, _she thought, distantly_, I've never seen a beach in my life. _She looked around herself in awe._

_She did not have long to study the scenery before she was told by an inside voice, somewhere deep inside of her, to look towards the ocean._

_Someone was standing out in the ocean. Silver hair fell down to the person's shoulders. Skye lifted a hand to try and block the glare of the sun so she could see better._

_The person was really out there, as still as a statue._

_The same deep voice as before, seeming to guide her, told her to go, that the person was good and a friend._

_Grinning widely, Skye stepped forward to do so._

_The ocean began to pull away from the shore and she gasped. Skye stared down for a second and then looked up._

_Skye saw a huge wave coming in front of the person and she wanted to scream, even though she knew that the person had to see it, they were looking directly at it. and while she was feeling this panic, the person turned calmly, not phased at all._

_The person was a female, Skye realized. Those silver bangs framed a feminine face, slightly hiding green eyes. Skye knew though that this girl had a guyish side to her, that much was obvious. She had a lean body that showed muscle._

_And that girl, that seemed a little familiar despite Skye had never seen her before, held out her hand to her._

_The same voice as before told her to go again, to take the hand that the girl offered._

_Skye stepped forward, feeling the urgency._

_The sea rebelled against them and Skye felt afraid. The girl however remained as calm as ever, still as she waited for Skye to come to her._

_And then the wave crashed down._

_Skye tumbled back in the water. She did a flip in the water before she found herself facing the girl again._ _The girl simply stayed upright in the water, looking at Skye. The girl held her hand out again, drifting farther from Skye._

_Again, the voice told her to get that hand, and again the water rebelled when she tried to swim forward._

_She fell back into the water farther, losing sight of the silver headed girl, and for some reason her heart tore at that realization. She felt like she was falling deeper in the water, but after a second she saw light up above. She broke the surface of the water again, spraying water everywhere as she did so. At once she noticed the change in the sky. It was no longer daytime. It was sunset, oranges and reds cast everywhere._

_There was someone on the beach, she realized quickly. That someone was waving and calling her name. Or, it seemed that someone was calling her name. Skye could see the mouth form her name, but she didn't hear the sound come from that mouth._

_Skye felt the need to come to this person too._

_While coming closer, Skye saw that it was a boy. He looked happy to see her, as if he had always known her. Red hair bounced as he continued to wave, jumping up and down a little. Skye thought on a detached level that he looked innocent, pure, as if all he knew was this island._

_The boy was laughing when she came up in front of him on the beach, hands clasped behind his back. Again, Skye didn't hear his laugh, or her laugh when she joined him, feeling his laughter was contagious._

_For a second or two they laughed together._

_Then the boy stopped, a look of alarm on his face. Skye looked up at him, her hands resting on her knees, feeling alarm herself simply from that look. She turned to look._

_Skye gasped._

_What looked like meteors or falling stars crowded the sky over a wonderful sunset. _

_And then Skye saw something else, a body amongst those. Hers._

_A feeling of vertigo hit._

_Skye was falling backwards. She could see the boy reacting beside her to it, alarm over his features._

_Skye's world spun. One minute she was beside the boy, and then the next she was simply falling. Falling down. She saw the boy calling for her, through what looked like water._

_And then she relaxed and closed her eyes. Something told her it was safe, that it was okay, that this was alright. She felt herself hit the water, and still stayed calm. She felt herself spiraling down, feeling only a little of what should have been a massive rush._

_She slowly turned in the water, opening her eyes like someone waking up as she did so. She found herself standing on a surface, though it didn't look visible at all._

_Curious as she had always been, Skye took a step forward._

_Birds rushed up, startling her. Recovering quickly, she watched them fly away, smiling. Feathers gently fell down, acting as if it was air and not the water Skye thought she had traveled in to get there._

_It seemed as if time froze for a second._

_And when it started again Skye saw Snow White on a stain glass beneath her._

The peaceful sleep shattered.

Skye woke to a girl in a bright yellow overalls jumping up and down on her bed.

"Sunny, what time is it?" Skye groaned.

"Seven! Get up, sleepyhead! Ma's cooking breakfast!"

"I'm up! I'm up!"

"Race you downstairs!" Sunny shouted, jumping off the bed.

Skye barely had enough time to sit up before Sunny was out of her room in a flash.

Skye laughed as she dragged herself out of bed. As she pulled her clothes on, a mix of yellow, red, and black, she thought about the dream. Was it a dream? Who were the boy and girl? Skye had never seen them before in her life. So why had it felt sort of natural to be close to them? What the heck was with Snow White being in the dream? What did it all mean?

Skye would have kept up all the questions if she hadn't been interrupted.

"Skye, there's mail down here for you!" Bridget called up the stairs.

Skye raised an eyebrow, but came down anyway. Mail? Her?

**There we go! Gah, the chapter tried to kill me and I can explain it now that it's over. The beginning movie for Kingdom Hearts does not pause. I had to sit there for an hour and keep replaying it. I guess my short term memory sucks. lol. I thought I was going to go stir crazy! Thanks for reading this! There might be typos, if there is please tell me. I normally don't find them myself. Normally LarsJr does and I'm not sure when she'll be reading this. If you have any ideas, for any of my stories even, tell me! And please review! I won't know what you think if you don't. So make a writer's life easier, review!**

**Thanks again to my readers, you know who you are! P). (Please bare with my smilies, I'm trying to get use to them XD)**


	3. Chapter Two New in Town

**Hello! New Chapter! Please read, hope you like, and please review!**

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I mean, it's a no brainer.**

The moving van was packed and well on its way by two hours. They were in the car in the front of, having guided for those two hours, when a certain teenager realized a certain skateboard was in the upstairs closet.

"Terra! We have to turn around!"

Terra snapped out of a doze consisted of thoughts confused and tangled.

"What?" Terra exclaimed, taking advantage of a red light to turn in the seat. "What's wrong?"

"My skateboard's in the closet!"

Terra's face remained perfectly still for a second as the sentence completely sunk in.

"Your what?"

"My skateboard! We have to go back! That's my first!"

"Terra, light!" the boy next to the skateboard kid yelled.

Terra whirled around in her seat. Indeed, the red light was now green.

"Thanks, Gregory,'' Terra said over her shoulder as she got the car going again. "And that isn't your first skateboard, Baldwin. Your first skateboard broke the day you got it!"

"This is the first one that's lasted me a month! It's good luck! I need it to help me win the Struggle tournament!"

Terra and Pence heard that claim for the past two weeks or so. It was ridiculous and they both knew it. They both shared a grin and a shake of the head through the rearview mirror. A skateboard be a good luck charm in a tournament where you used a club?

"We're not turning around, Baldwin. That's insane. We left two hours ago. Do you realize we'd be wasting four hours to get that skateboard. We're not gonna."

"But, Terra-"

"No, that's final. You can get a new one when we got to our new house, okay? But you're just gonna have to wait."

Terra sighed, imaging the car ride this was becoming. She still had to drive for another two hours as it was.

Terra wished she had just flunked the driver's test the day before. She wouldn't be driving now, someone else would be. Probably one of her older cousins, not that she was fond of any of them, mind you, but the job would have been pushed off on them.

Stopping at what felt like the eightieth stop light, they seemed to hit every one of them, Terra promised herself that she wouldn't drive for the next month if she could help it.

After two hours of heck, Terra pulled into the driveway of their new house. In relief she got to pull the keys out of the ignition. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she caught Baldwin fly out of the car.

Terra got out, just in time to grab the back of Baldwin's jacket.

"And where do you think you're going, runt? You're carrying some of the stuff that's in this car."

Baldwin groaned, but willingly came to the back of the car. After a second of fighting with the trunk, Terra regretted telling Baldwin and Gregory to pack the car before they left the house. It was a colossal mess that threatened to avalanche if you so much as breathed on it.

"You know what, you two are responsible for bringing the stuff in here in the house. And you _both_ have to do it, not just Gregory."

Terra walked over to the moving van, glancing over her shoulder once to make sure the boys were working. Terra rounded the back of the van, where the movers already had the door open.

Standing there, hands shoved in her pockets, she really wished they didn't have so much junk.

She sighed.

Time for work.

After working for most of the morning and part of the afternoon, the trio of teenagers were beyond due for a break. Gregory and Baldwin were sitting on the front steps. Terra had disappeared a minute earlier and now returned.

"Get up, guys."

"What for?" Baldwin groaned.

Terra laughed.

"Don't want your skateboard, eh?"

"Hey!"

"Well, get up then. We're heading down to the main street. Get your skateboard, get Gregory his books, get me my music, and we'll get something to eat while we're out."

"Cool!" Gregory exclaimed.

"So, come on, get up!" Terra said, laughing.

The two boys took off running down their new sidewalk, howling in laughter. Terra took off behind them, grinning.

That grin remained wide. The three of them had moved before, three separate times to be exact. Terra, the eldest, remembered almost every place they had lived. But none of those places were really home, and she knew it. Home was the three of them. The two boys. Running and tackling each other.

Home was Gregory and Baldwin.

At the end of the long sidewalk they came to halt, winded a little. The three of them looked at the house for a second, and then each other.

"Terra, are we going to be able to find this place again?" Gregory asked.

Terra didn't answer immediately, but looked first at Gregory and then Baldwin.

"I don't know,'' Terra shrugged. "You're the one with the better direction, Baldwin. Are we going to be able to find this place?"

"Don't know. Guess we can try, right?"

There was silence for a moment between the three of them, then Terra started laughing. She walked past Baldwin, ruffling his hair.

"We can definitely try. Come on."

Terra walked ahead for a second, and then noticed the lack of noise behind her. She stopped moving.

"Bonsai!" Two voices shouted.

Luckily, Terra had enough experience with getting leaped on by them that she knew how to brace herself when she fell so that she remained in one piece. After a second of making sure that everything was indeed intact, she turned, despite the weight of both of the boys on her back. She brought out her best defense-tickling, which was a lot safer than her tackling them since she was years older.

Baldwin broke away first, like he always did. He tackled Terra against her side, knocking her away from Gregory, again a pretty common thing.

They went on like that for a minute uninterrupted.

"Are you our new neighbors?"

All three of them stopped instantly. Gregory was halfway up Terra's back and Terra was bent over Baldwin, ready to give a deadly tickle.

"Uh..." was all Terra managed through her shock.

The girl, who actually looked older than Terra, just laughed.

"Don't worry about it. So I'm guessing you are?"

Terra, who had regained at least some of the control over herself, stood up, sliding a still in shock Gregory off her back.

"Yeah, we are. My name's Terra. And this is Gregory and Baldwin."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Bridget, and this is Sunny,'' the girl said, nodding down towards a young girl.

Terra was examining Sunny. She was wearing yellow overalls that really did fit her name. Terra looked from Bridget to Sunny.

"Nope, she's not mine,'' Bridget said, smiling sadly, knowing exactly what Terra was thinking.

"I can see that. You take care of her though, don't you?"

"Yeah. Same goes for you, right?"

Terra nodded. She had never really thought of the boys as her kids though. More of brothers.

"You only have one though?"

"No,'' Bridget answered, grinning. "There's one more. She stayed home though, sort of worn out. I dragged her shopping last night and Sunny had her out at the park too. Her name's Skye."

"Where are you going now?"

"Shopping again. Sunny raided the fridge."

Terra looked back down at Sunny, who didn't look like she weighed enough to have raided any fridge.

"She raided the fridge?"

"Yeah. You haven't seen her yet,'' Bridget told her, laughing.

"Well,'' Terra said after a brief moment of shock. "We're going shopping too. Want to go together?"

"That'd be nice."

"Are you sure you won't come in, Terra?" Bridget asked, standing in her doorway.

Terra laughed.

"I'm sure. I've got to go back to our place and make sure the boys' beds are ready. And put this stuff away. You know, stuff like that. Are you sure you want to take Gregory and Baldwin for a couple hours?"

"Yeah, I don't care. They get along fine with Sunny, by the looks of it. When you come back to get them, are you going to stay long enough to meet Skye?"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks for everything, Bridget." Terra ducked inside the house for a second. "Guys, behave, alright?"

"We will!"

"Yes! Sheesh!"

Bridget watched Terra walk down the sidewalk. Terra was those boys' mother. Whether she would ever say so, she was. Maybe not by blood, but she still was. She truly and honestly was.

And Bridget thought, maybe I'm not the only one.

Three hours later Terra was back. Terra was relieved to see Baldwin and Gregory intact, Terra had been worried about that with the little girl who seemed to breathe sugar. She was also relieved to find that Bridget and her house hadn't been torn apart. And even more, she was relieved to find the skateboard that had made her early morning ride here heck intact as well.

"Skye!" Bridget called up the steps.

Terra was curious to see this Skye. How old would Skye be? As young as Sunny, around the boys' age, her own age, or eighteen like Bridget? It could be said that Terra wasn't the best with people, especially when she was just meeting them. Sure, her and Bridget had hit it off well enough, but that was different. She and Bridget had common ground.

Would her and Skye have any common ground?

And a brunette came down the stairs, and Terra assumed it was Skye. Skye was dressed in clashing colors, yellow, red, and black. Hanging on her chest was what looked like a new necklace, a crown hanging on a chain.

The brunette came to the foot of the steps and stopped dead, eyes directly on Terra.

**Cliffhanger! I had to! Please leave me a review. I don't mind criticism, it really is useful too.**


	4. Chapter Three Heir to the Throne

**Hi All! For those that have been reading my stuff, thanks! Okay, another chapter for this one. It attacked me today in school XD. Had to do it.**

**Disclaimer: Okay, I think we all know the run of this. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything. I'd have too much fun if I did :).**

Nitya kept a wary eye on the man sitting across from her.

Okay, so he was indeed like her, but that didn't call for default trust, right? Nitya was never much of a truster. She lived alone, worked alone, and really preferred it that way.

"You said you had to talk to me, what is it? I happen to be on a tight schedule."

"I imagine so. Just like your father."

Despite her best attempts at control, Nitya showed a level of surprise.

Her father? Did she hear him right? She had never seen her father and had absolutely no idea who he was. Her mother, during her brief time in Nitya's life, had never talked of him. What did this man across from her know?

"What do you know of my father?" Nitya asked.

"That those eyes came from him. Your skin, your hair, what you are, it all comes from him. I know that your father worked with my father."

"On what?" She demanded, before she could stop herself and tell her mind that it was a stupid idea to do so.

The man smirked. Instantly Nitya's orange eyes seemed alive with fire. She would not stand for that kind of look. That man had better watch his step.

"Sad. The heir to the throne has no idea who she is, who her father was."

"Get on with it. I have things I need to be doing."

Truth be told, Nitya knew she'd never just storm out on this man, it was just she had better control of herself now. This man knew about her father, and she didn't even know what her father's name was. She hated it, but she had to say that she had risen to the man's bait.

Strong bait it was.

"Bet you didn't even know that he was the one to name you."

"No, I didn't. Get on with your point,'' Nitya said, her voice cool.

"My father and your father worked together on Kingdom Hearts."

The man paused, allowing the two words to take effect.

_Kingdom Hearts._

It sent a chill down her spine, and she had no idea why.

After a moment's consideration, Nitya asked, ''What's Kingdom Hearts?"

The man let out a loud laugh, ignoring Nitya's glare that looked like it could kill.

"It's the thing that can make us whole! Your father would be ashamed!"

Whole? What was he talking about?

And why was her father so caught up in it?

"What's your name, and what was your father's?"

He only looked amused.

"Obi, the name's Obi. My father was Saix."

Nitya drew herself up out of the chair.

"Well, this has been an informative meeting, but I must be going, Obi,'' Nitya said, turning to walk away.

"So soon? And leaving your heritage behind?"

She stopped, her back to him. She couldn't walk away, and they both knew it. She knew nothing of her heritage. Her mother had told her nothing. Nitya herself had never asked, she just never thought about it. Now that she had heard a little, she'd go insane without knowing more.

"Give me an address or something. You must have business to do or something, I certainly do."

"Address?" Obi repeated, laughing. "Can't believe it. How about The World That Never Was? It's yours now anyway."

Nitya refused to turn, to show the surprise and interest on her face. She tried desperately to remind herself who she was, who she had trained herself to be. She was used to being in Obi's position, at the head of everything and in control. Granted, she might not be now, but she'd be danged if she was going to let him get his way with everything.

"I'll find it. I'll come there. Sometime when time isn't so short."

"Goodnight, daughter of..."

This time Nitya did turn fast in shock, but Obi, son of Saix, was already gone.

She had heard her father's name for the first time in her life.

Nitya stood there for a minute, the conversation repeating in her head.

She shook her head, silver bangs falling in her eyes as she did so. She still had stuff to do. There was at least another hour of work yet, e-mailing business to tend to, and she had to get to bed as soon as she could so she could get up and work a shift for Manton.

And that night, night as it always was, when she went to bed, she wondered about everything.

Did she still want to do anything with Manton? Sure, he had the Heartless in all, but she could do without them, she supposed. After all, she could defeat the Heartless easily. Obi was proof that there were more of her kind. Just how much more? And how strong were they? Could they do the same kind of damage she could? Or were they weaker than her?

She very well could take Obi up on what he was saying. After all, her father wasn't stupid, was he? He didn't sound like it. If he worked with Obi's father, then could Obi be that bad? And he said that this world place was now hers rightfully and he had talked about a throne. Her father had to have been the strongest of her kind, right? Didn't that make her one of the strongest, if not the strongest?

Nitya didn't know. What had just happened would change her life, that much she knew. She just didn't know in what direction to nudge it.

She whispered her father's name aloud, and then her full name immediately after.

Yes, they fit together, especially with the meanings attached.

**So yeah. There it is. Strange how I zone out of English, isn't it? XD. So, um, yeah. Wow, short chapter. Please review. I need someone to tell me how this is going. So please review! Cookies to reviews!**


	5. Chapter Four When Earth Meets Sky

**Hello everyone!!!!!! I am back here again XD. Took way too long of a break from this. I made some notes for upcoming chapters. It was something I hadn't done before that I should have. So yeah here's more. If you're just wandering in, please wander over and check out the beginning :)**

**And if you're getting this alert, yet again, I was fixing my scene dividers. They up and disappeared on me :(**

**Disclaimer: Me no own, as always**

**Sorry it's so long. It wasn't supposed to be XD**

While Nitya, daughter of leader, and Obi, son of Saix, had their meeting about the past, Skye found herself standing at the bottom of her stairs, staring at a teenage girl in the doorway.

Not just any teenager girl either. One with shoulder length silver hair that framed her face. One with eyes that reminded Skye of the sea.

The girl that had held out her hand to Skye, the hand that Skye had never managed to grab.

But Skye knew that it had been a dream, she had never seen that girl before in her life, but was it really so that she was standing in her house now?

"Skye, are you alright?" Bridget asked.

Skye jerked out of the staring.

Bridget was standing in next to the teenager, who looked roughly Skye's age, with a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, I'm alright,'' Skye answered immediately.

"Are you sure? You're not getting sick are you?"

"No. I've been taking my vitamins and everything. I'm perfectly healthy."

Bridget and the teenager beside her shared a look, and Skye suddenly felt left out. It was always her and Bridget sharing those looks. It was always them two that gave that look to each other. Like whenever Sunny wasn't feeling okay, when she came home from school walking and not running.

"Tell me if you start feeling off, okay, Skye?" Bridget asked, and Skye nodded in response. "Skye, this is Terra, our neighbor."

"Nice to meet you, Skye."

"Nice to meet you too, Terra,'' Skye forced herself to say aloud, still pretty deep in shock.

"It's getting late and the boys need to get to bed, so how about we all get together tomorrow for something?" Terra asked.

"That would be nice,'' Bridget said. "How about nine?"

Terra laughed, the boys joining in with her. Terra was smiling and it reminded Skye eerily of the dream she had had. She half expected Terra to hold her hand out to her next.

"Nine?" Terra repeated. "Sorry, we're not morning people. Today was the earliest we had been up in at least a year, probably since the last time we moved. How about eleven or so?"

"You sleep in so late, and you take care of the boys too?" Bridget asked, disbelief on her face.

"Yeah,'' Baldwin said.

"We sleep in too,'' Gregory added.

"Okay, we'll go with eleven tomorrow. We'll go out and see the park. We'll give you a tour and everything."

"Sounds good. Come on, guys, it's late. I've got to get you to sleep."

"Goodnight, Terra."

After a few more goodbyes, Terra was leading the boys down the side walk. She couldn't shake the way Skye had been staring at her. Terra didn't think she was that strange. Sure, the silver hair knocked people's socks off for at least a month when they moved, but Skye didn't look like a stranger to weird hairdos. Really, she had that spiked hair that looked like it could pierce a balloon.

"Terra, isn't it awesome how we're going to be going to school with them? We've already made friends!" Gregory said.

"Yeah, it's great,'' Terra said, still largely distracted.

Yeah, Gregory had always been the one worried about finding friends. The moves were the toughest on him that way. Terra wasn't bothered by the constant change in scenery. She stayed detached, not even bothering to get attached to anyone.

So why now? Why had Terra made friends with Bridget so easily?

You know why, her mind told her. You both share common ground. You have to take care of the boys and she has to take care of her girls.

But why does she have to take care of them, Sunny and Skye? Terra wondered. What happened to them? Why are they together? None of them are siblings to each other, Terra could tell.

Terra put the thoughts on hold as she fought the keys into the front door lock.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Terra was almost out of the boys' bedroom when Gregory asked, "Terra, are we going to be able to stay this time?"

Terra stopped and turned around, shocked.

Yet, how could she be shocked? This had to come sooner or later, didn't it?

"Yeah, can we stay?" Baldwin added.

"Maybe we can, guys,'' Terra told them. "Maybe we won't have to move again."

Terra sighed mentally. She knew the run of luck they had, chances were they'd be moving within the year again. But how could you say that to them?

"I hope."

"Yeah, I like it here."

Terra smiled, a hint of sadness to it that the boys didn't catch in the dark light.

"Goodnight, guys."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

That night was full of rough and broken sleep for Terra. Her waking thoughts were full of the odd events taking place around her, like that they had all managed to find someone the first day here and how unlike that was, and her dreams were full of old memories, of how their journey as a trio started.

When she woke up it was to find the boys sitting at the foot of her bed, both of them already dressed.

"Morning,'' she said.

She felt relieved to see them there, the pair of them sitting side by side. There had been several times that they had done that before and it was a comfort to see it again.

"Morning, Terra,'' they both replied happily.

Terra stretched and then sat up.

"How long have you guys been up and what time is it?"

"About a half hour. It's eleven-thirty,'' Gregory answered.

"Eleven-thirty. Okay- Wait, eleven-thirty?" Terra exclaimed. "But we were supposed to be leaving at eleven! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Bridget told us not to,'' Baldwin said, completely unfazed by Terra's shock.

"She said you could use the sleep. She's downstairs, along with Sunny and Skye."

Shaking her head at the oddness of the situation, she told the boys to head down and she'd be down in a minute.

It was just weird, Terra thought. We're still so new, and there's people downstairs waking on us. Or me even.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skye's mind froze when she saw Terra coming down the stairs. She had only seen the girl briefly and had been tempted to believe that the whole thing was an extension of that bizarre dream.

But despite her mind protesting, she knew it wasn't a dream. Dreams weren't this strange, or hers had never been before.

"Hi, Terra,'' Bridget greeted happily. "Good morning."

"Good morning, if it's still morning," Terra responded, looking at each of her neighbors in turn. Skye noticed that Terra's eyes lingered longer on hers and she wondered what the girl thought about her. "You could have woken me up, Bridget. It really wouldn't have been a big deal."

Bridget shrugged, smiling. A pang hit Skye when she realized that look wasn't for her. It wasn't aimed at her. Bridget was looking straight at Terra. Terra the stranger, as Skye saw it.

"I figured that the move couldn't have been easy on you. You drove here, right?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks for the sleep."

"No problem."

"So, where are we going first?"

"Let's head into town and decide from there. You probably haven't seen everything yet. There's some things you only find out when you've been here a while."

Skye watched Terra look down at the two boys, who were obviously ready to go, and Terra smiled herself.

"Yeah, sounds good."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"You're new, aren't you?"

Terra turned. She found herself looking at a blond girl a little older than her. On a detached level, she wondered how the heck there was yet another resident of the town whose hair was a safety hazard.

"Yeah, I am. Why?" Terra asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, Terra, she doesn't mean anything by it,'' Sunny said, coming back from around the corner. Sunny had noticed Terra had fallen behind and had come back to find why. "Selena's like that."

Terra gave a weary look to Selena. She wasn't entirely sure if she liked the girl at all. She was wearing full black, a heavy black cloak thrown over her. Terra had never quite been comfortable around people like that.

"Sorry if I scared you,'' Selena said. "Didn't mean to. I was just honestly wondering if you were new. I know most people around here and I didn't recognize you."

"My-"

"Her name's Terra and then there's Gregory and Baldwin. They're our new neighbors!"

Selena laughed.

"Well, thanks, Sunny. But, Terra, if you ever need anything, come find me. I'm more than willing."

"Thanks. We better catch up though."

"Yeah, you don't want to get separated. I'd imagine Bridget knows you did, but Bridget also believes that if you get separated in town you ought to be able to find your way back."

"Even the kids?"

"Yep. Just her way of thinking. Better go catch up."

"See you later, Selena,'' Sunny shouted over her shoulder, waving.

"Yeah, see you later,'' Terra added.

"Bye, Terra, Sunny."

After they rounded the corner away from Selena, Sunny turned to Terra.

"You've got Selena on your side, Terra. She knows everyone."

"Popular?"

"Nope,'' Sunny told her. "She's not. She just knows everybody. She keeps a good eye out for people."

"Is she quiet most of the time?"

"Yeah, why?" Sunny asked, her head tilted to one side.

"Quiet people normally see everything,'' Terra answered, shrugging. "And most of the time they have it right."

Sunny looked up at Terra, her head still tilted and a child grin on her face.

"You're quiet."

Terra opened her mouth to respond, but realized that she didn't have a ready answer to Sunny. She wondered what she would have said to anybody else. She was pretty sure that it would have been something that had an edge to it.

She knew she ought to relax. This place looked more peaceful. No one had turned them away. No one had yet to look at her like she was insane for raising the two boys.

Terra looked down at Sunny and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"There you guys are!" Gregory shouted ahead of them.  
Bridget turned around and waved.

"Where were you guys?" She asked.

"Terra got to meet Selena!"

Bridget laughed.

"Oh, yes, Selena. So what did you think of her?"

"She's interesting."

Even Skye, who had been pretty quiet throughout the afternoon, laughed.

"Yeah, that's what most people say,'' she commented.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Terra and Gregory stood watching Baldwin's eyes get bigger and bigger. Breaking their gazes away from him, they turned to each other, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

"Are they skateboarding?" Baldwin yelled, causing everyone in the close vicinity besides Terra and Gregory to jump feet into the air.

"Yeah,'' Bridget answered after the second it took to make sure she was still breathing. She was used to Sunny exploding like that, but Baldwin wasn't her kid and he didn't look like the type to actually do it. "They have competitions."

"When? Are they having one now?"

"Um, I'm not sure,'' she answered truthfully.

"Today's the last day to enter. Tomorrow the competition starts, Ma. Baldwin could still enter if he wants to."

Baldwin wheeled away from the fence in one quick movement and the old residents of the town jumped. It had been hard to tell if the boy had been listening at all.

"Terra, can I?"

Terra looked down at smiling Baldwin, who was literally bouncing up and down, and then to Bridget."

"Bridget, is it safe?"

"Yeah, he'd be safe here."

Terra thought for a minute.

"Couple conditions. Be careful. Don't pick any fights you know you can win. Remember that you're signed up for the Struggle Tournament. You're not quitting that one of this one collides with it."

"Thanks, Terra!" Baldwin exclaimed, tackling her into a hug.

"I have an idea,'' Bridget said. "How about Baldwin stays here as long as he wants. Ill take Sunny and Gregory to the park for ice cream, and Baldwin can join us there when he's done. Terra, could you and Skye pick up a few things for me?"

Terra looked at Skye for a second. Was she particularly comfortable walking around a town that she didn't fully know with a person who was quiet like a ghost around her? No, simple enough, she wasn't. But she could try.

"Sure."

"You don't mind, Skye?"

"No, Ma."

"Thanks, guys. Here's the list, Skye."

Terra looked down at her boys. She was not used to being away from them. Sure, last night she had been away from them for a bit, but that was different. It felt different. It wasn't being away from them in a town she didn't know.

"Be good guys. And have fun,'' Terra added.

"They'll be alright,'' Bridget reassured her, smiling.

"Keep your cell phones on though."

"We will, Terra,'' Baldwin said, pulling her into a hug again.

Gregory came around the other side and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing the air out of her lungs.

"We'll be okay."

The group watched Skye and Terra walk away.

"You want them to be friends, don't you, Ma? Sunny asked.

"Yeah, I do. Skye doesn't really have a friend that's close to her age, and I don't think Terra's had any either."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Two hours later Skye and Terra had remained as silent as ever. Skye had pretty much pointed the way through the city and done the talk to the locals at the store. Terra had had to introduce herself to what felt like half the city.

"Hey, Terra,'' Skye said, hanging up the cell phone. "That was Ma. She told us to go have dinner."

"Why?" Terra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She said that they ran into Selena and they're talking."  
"And we're not going back why?"

Skye shrugged.

"I'm just saying what she said. She told us to have dinner."

"Okay, so where can we go?"

"We can go down to Christopher's,'' Skye answered, a hint of reluctance to her voice. "It's a good place."

"Hope so. I'm hungry."

Skye looked at Terra. She wanted to say something to break the silence that was coming over them as they walked. She just didn't know what.

Skye knew what Bridget was doing. She had known Bridget for too long not to.

They made it to Christopher's, ordered, and had sat down before the silence was broken by Skye.

"Why did you tell Baldwin not to start any fights he knows he'd win. That doesn't make any sense,'' Skye blurted out.

Skye could have disappeared off the face of the planet. Of all the things she could have said, that was probably the worst option. It was like insulting Terra's mothering skills.

"Yes, it does. Why start a fight you know for a fact you can win?"

Skye felt completely lost. The girl was odd and Skye didn't know anything about her.

"To win?"

"Yeah, but if you know you're going to win, why bother? You're not proving anything. If you're going to start a fight, start one that you can surprise people with. Prove that you're something, that you're somebody who's willing to take the risk of losing. That's what I was taught anyway,'' Terra finished, shrugging.

"Who taught you that, Terra?"

"My father did. I don't remember him much, to be honest. Last time I saw him I was a little younger than Sunny. I remember him teaching me that though."

"What did happen to you? Why is it you, Baldwin, and Gregory? What's your story?"

A man came to their table and sat down the food they had ordered.

"Thanks, Christopher," Skye said. "This is Terra, she's new here."

"Hi."

Christopher looked friendly enough, with a gentle face and brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Nice to meet you. We don't get many new people around here. I hope you like living here."

Terra looked over at Skye, sensing that the icy quietness that had held them apart was melting. They had found something that they could both share in. Skye was asking about her, and Terra had never told anyone the full story.

"I'm sure I will, Christopher."

"I better go back to the kitchen before my cousin kills me."

Skye laughed as he walked away. She knew his cousin well enough.

"But really, Terra, what is your story?"

"I don't even know all of it, Skye. I just know that something happened to my dad when I was young. I went to live with my grandparents, but that didn't work. I got moved from there to my mum's sister's, and then in two months I moved again. Spent at least three years bouncing around in the family before I found Baldwin and Gregory."

"How'd you find them? Are they family?"

"Nope. Just orphans like me. Met them when I was with an uncle of mine, on my mum's side too. I had spent half of the last year with my mum's side and I knew I'd be bouncing over to dad's soon, that was how things went anyway. Well, Gregory and Baldwin had been in an orphanage at the time I was living around there. Most of the time they wandered out and around where I was living. The place was huge and had a garden half the size of the house. I could care for the garden, because my uncle sure couldn't."

"Who had planted it then?"

"His wife, but she died a few weeks before I came. I got there just in time to save the garden. He said I could keep as mine, since he couldn't do anything with it himself."

"he wanted you to stay, didn't he?" Skye asked quietly.

"Yeah, he did. That's why he took me in. He figured that we had both been through a lot and that we could help each other. But like I was saying, we had a huge garden. Baldwin and Gregory would sneak out of the orphanage to come and sneak fruit."

"You saw them do it, didn't you?"

"Of course."

"Did you stop them? Is that how you met?"

"Yeah, how else? But I didn't stop them immediately. After all, if I stopped them after the first time, what would I know about them?" Terra stopped, catching the confused look on Skye's face as she ate. "Something my father said. He told me to watch things carefully."  
"What did you father do?"

Terra shrugged and said she didn't know.

"Some secret kept from me. I was never told. But I watched them for about a month. That gave them enough time to feel comfortable coming, made a habit of it. I'd watch them, but I stayed up in the house when I did."

"Why did you let it go that long though?"

"I was never mad at them for taking the fruit, so it wasn't like time mattered. I was just curious really. Well, when I did do something, it was about Christmas time. I stopped them in the garden and brought them inside for a meal. I talked to my uncle when they were eating. He had said that I could have anything for Christmas."

"And you wanted Gregory and Baldwin, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't want them to be on the streets, cause it happens a lot. I was an orphan too, after all. Well, my uncle did it. He legally adopted the boys and that's how we all ended up together."

"What aren't you still there?"

"He died after about three years. I was about twelve when we moved, all three of us. We ended up in my family bouncing around again. Then I was about thirteen when we ended up on our own. The family would get the houses for us, but we'd be on our own. And we've moved three times that way."

"How have you guys done that?" Skye asked in shock.

"You learn to survive,'' Terra told her. "The boys want to stay here, so I'll try my best for them, but we'll probably be moving again."

"Wow. No wonder you're quiet."

"So, what's your story?" Terra asked. "How come it's you, Bridget and Sunny?"

Skye laughed.

"Guess it's only fair."

A ringtone cut through the conversation.

**Hi peoples. (ducks in case somebody's willing to throw something.) Like I said, it wasn't supposed to be so long in this chapter. I got bored in school and I started come up with back stories and before I knew it, it really got away from me. I've had way more time to write now, so I'll be updating much more.**

**So please review and make me happy!**

**Thanks to all reviewers!**


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